5NL to bluff or not to bluff

5NL to bluff or not to bluff

PokerStars - €0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 187.8 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 105.8 BB
MP: 137.2 BB
CO: 128.4 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 5 A

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.4 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, BTN calls 7.6 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) 7 9 3
Hero bets 7.6 BB, BTN calls 7.6 BB

Turn: (36.2 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (36.2 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero bets 26.4 BB,

Spoiler
Show

BTN raises to 58 BB,
fold
BTN wins 84.6 BB

looking back at this hand it does seem exactly what it is imo, a desperate attempt to claw back my valuable cents. thoughts at the time were i have practically air, lets take a little stab queen is probably much better for my range, just. then now looking back i could get some A10hh/dd and AJ hh/dd to fold but not really much else.

for future reference for similar spots should i be betting this size if at all? should you be bluffing the worse parts of your range 100%? been trying to improve my red line so any tips on the dark arts of bluffing would be much appreciated thanks

30 July 2024 at 07:05 PM
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7 Replies



I think i would mostly check this flop, you dont have much turn river prospect.


I think we mix on this flop so I'd rather cbet with any other A5s than this one.

River stab seems fine. Weak line by V; nuts changing overcard = tick,tick


Would a small issue turn bet accomplish much? Like if you had an overpair you might continue on the turn so might add some believability to the river bet

I am hopelessly clueless to GTO though so I dunno what solvers say about this "node"


I think there are better combos to select from for this line. The bluff in itself isn't necessarily bad, but if you are doing it with this combo then you are probably doing it too much and people will notice. I like this line a lot more with a hand like K J. It blocks more Qx and unblocks Ax which you want to fold out. I would only do this bluff versus a player that is a bit more timid though, because a lot of people are going to call once the 9 pairs and since you checked the turn they are going to discount spades.

I think flop bet is good for the most part, because people just overfold to the 1/3 sizing way too much. In theory, you probably want to pick hands with back door equity, but I think 1/3 full range is going to be good even on this board that really shouldn't be bet with this size. Versus a sticky opponent, probably good to check/fold the hand as it is lower on the tier of hands that would want to bet this flop since it doesn't have the best back door equity.

As played, I like checking river, because you do have some showdown value even though it isn't that much and I think there are better candidates for this line. Versus a lot of people I might not even bluff this river at all though.


x/f flop. Bet when you have hearts diamonds or spades so you have more good double barreling opportunities when you turn a FD. Some hands In your range are just going to check folds on this flop, this is one of them.


I'm checking the river in a $5 game


This looks ok. Flop could go either way.
River Q is not great for you he will call most AQ otf and check ott while you'll often put your Qx in other lines. But otr we block some AQ not that much of folding range and we have close to 0 sdv.

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